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Racers worry about global warming

By Allen Best AVON, Colo. – World Cup downhill races at Beaver Creek last week were postponed because of snow heavy enough to cause avalanche danger.

By Allen Best

AVON, Colo. – World Cup downhill races at Beaver Creek last week were postponed because of snow heavy enough to cause avalanche danger. But despite that abundance of snow, the Vail Daily found deep concern among ski racers and World Cup officials about the changing climate.

“At this point, I don’t think there’s many people who can deny there are effects to global warming,” said Ted Ligety, the reigning Olympic combined gold medalist. He told the Daily that he is worried that greenhouse gas emissions will eventually eliminate skiing altogether.

Guenther Hujara, director of the men’s World Cup, had similar concerns: “When we look at the glaciers back in the ’70s and now, we cannot say this is just a short-term phenomenon or a question of fickle weather,” he said.

Utah native Steven Nyman, an Olympic downhiller, said many racers on the U.S. Ski Team are worried about global warming’s effect on skiing. But he said ski racers are “probably the worst” offenders in their contribution of greenhouse gases.

“We’re staying in hotel rooms, changing the linen, we’re flying here and there and we’re driving everywhere. We are using amazing amounts of fuel and resources,” Nyman said. “So, it’s tough for us to talk as skiers traveling the world.”

Ligety said he believes the sport is especially endangered in Europe, where resorts are mostly at lower elevations.

 

Major work at Revelstoke?

REVELSTOKE, B.C. – Up to $100 million in new work may be done next year at Mount MacKenzie, the major new ski mountain being planned at Revelstoke. Only a small ski area exists there now, but as contemplated, the resort will have the most substantial vertical drop of any resort in North America, some 6,000 feet. The Revelstoke Times Review reports most of the work now is being done behind closed doors, in negotiations between the development company and town officials.

 

Opposition should extend to Jumbo

RADIUM HOT SPRINGS, B.C. – Town officials in Radium Hot Springs have joined Whistler in opposing a request by provincial officials for plans to develop resorts and lodges in provincial parks. But a letter-writer in the Invermere Valley Echo says that for Radium Hot Springs to be consistent, it should reverse its support for the proposed Jumbo Glacier Resort.

Jumbo, says the letter-writer, Cameron Clarkson, “Is a massive sprawl into the wilderness and is the epitome of exactly what Whistler is declaring should not happen. You can split hairs and say that the Jumbo Resort is not proposed for a provincial park. Nonetheless, the principle of the matter is indeed the same whether it is in the boundaries of a park or beyond in a wilderness that is distinct, valued and cherished by more and more people every year.”

 

Foreigners 12% of skier days

JACKSON HOLE, Wyo. – The number of skiers from foreign countries at U.S. resorts plummeted in the late 1990s, but has been rising rapidly again during the last three years.

At Aspen, the international business is 20 per cent of the ski-hill business, with Australians leading the charge. Presumably the number of foreign skiers at Vail is close behind.

At Jackson Hole, foreigners now account for 12 per cent of ticket sales, nearly double the figure of several years ago. Sources tell the Jackson Hole News & Guide that more direct flights, the addition of a swank Four Seasons Resort, and the weakened dollar are among the reasons for the growth. The ski area operator specifically targets the United Kingdom and Australia, but has recently launched a sales effort in Brazil.

 

White faces define ‘us’

KETCHUM, Idaho – The Idaho Mountain Express at Thanksgiving profiled a variety of locals in a section titled “All About Us.” Two Ketchum residents submitted a letter to the paper that noted a theme: all the faces were white. That, they said, was a slap in the face of those who are doing the heavy lifting in the local economy.

“I wonder what it feels like to be invisible,” wrote Eric Toshalis and Sarah Sentilles. “I wonder what it feels like to work in construction, landscape maintenance, food service… or any of the other multitude of jobs that keep the valley’s economy going, and have that work go unnoticed and unappreciated.”

Elsewhere in the Wood River Valley, local government leaders continue to prepare for the continued immigration of affluent retirees and entrepreneurs not dependent upon the local economy. With even down-valley towns increasingly upscale, a development team proposes to build a new town yet farther down-valley. Some workers now commute from as far as 80 miles away.

In a summit of local officials, Sun Valley Mayor Jon Thorson pined about “the loss of the middle class, coupled with the affordable housing crisis.”

Meanwhile, the Idaho Mountain Express called attention to the relative absence of Gen Xers in the local economy. “What’s needed is a concerted, well-planned community effort to market the area’s appeal to young entrepreneurs to create or relocate businesses here and provide desirable high-salaried jobs.”

One strategy to achieving that economic foundation, says the newspaper, is improved air travel connections. One such connection could be on Frontier’s new empire of discounted flights from its Denver hub.

 

Walking/biking a big issue

PARK CITY, Utah – Walking and bicycling has become one of the top issues in Park City. The Park Record reports residents have lodged many complaints about what they see as obstacles to walking in the county, including a lack of sidewalks, too few trails, and crosswalks that scare people. Even city council members report they are dissatisfied with what exists. The road to Deer Valley, for example, has no sidewalk. “I think it’s terrifying as it is,” said Marianne Cone, a city council member.

 

Red Onion about to perish

ASPEN, Colo. – Aspen’s venerated Red Onion bar and restaurant is to close at the end of ski season. No precise plans have been announced for the space, although the owner of the restaurant says the building owners are contemplating retail use.

The space has been used as a bar and restaurant since 1892. It gained its current name after World War II when 10 th Mountain Division veteran Johnny Litchfield operated the business, giving it the name that locals had long applied to the building, because of its architecture.

The current business operator, Dave “Wabs” Walbert and his wife, Eileen, have had it for 20 years — and with sub-market rent. “For almost 20 years they’ve had the cheapest rent in town,” said former owner Charles Israel in a 2003 interview with The Aspen Times. New owners have given him shorter, extended leases, but according to Walbert, plan to triple or quadruple the rent.

In the days following the announcement, The Aspen Times was rife with letters bemoaning the loss. “Money is clearly stealing the soul of Aspen,” wrote Andy Hanson, who told about walking into the bar as a college student in 1959 and witnessing the nature of “beer gulch.”

A former resident from Tennessee wondered whether city officials might want to step in to preserve the Red Onion as a historic legacy, much as they have helped with preserving the Isis movie theater. Town officials have also been asked to intervene financially to help keep the local Explore Bookstore in place.

 

Grow up or grow out?

BASALT, Colo. – Like many smallish mountain towns, Basalt is trying to decide whether to grow up or grow out. In other words, should there be more density in the existing town. Or should development on the edges, often called sprawl, be allowed?

The town council of Basalt, located 18 miles down-valley from Aspen, favors the higher-density infill, which in theory will be achieved by drawing a rigid line around the town. The alternative, which is favored by the town’s planning commissioners, is a more flexible growth boundary, to accommodate projects where developers have upped the ante with increased community benefits like more affordable housing and dedicated open space. But then that encourages greater use of cars and trucks with their many unsavory impacts, notes The Aspen Times.

One council member said he would oppose four- and five-storey-tall buildings, but would favor increased density of the “right type in the right place.” But that’s the catch, according to the town’s planning director, Susan Philips. Town officials often choke when faced with opposition from citizens affected by high-density development who say “we’re killing Basalt.”

It is often said that Americans hate both density and sprawl, but the conundrum is that with a growth rate of about 6 per cent, Basalt will have to accept one or the other, and perhaps both.

 

Another rape in Jackson

JACKSON HOLE, Wyo. – Another rape has been reported in Jackson, this time of a teenaged girl. This latest assault comes after two assaults — one a rape — in the summer of 2005. In addition, police arrested three men and charged them with bringing a young girl from Mexico and forcing her into prostitution to pay off her “debt” for bringing her across the border.

The incidents have led some to wonder if Jackson is as safe as it was just a few years ago, reports the Jackson Hole News & Guide. But police say there may be no difference. “I think people are more inclined to report these crimes now,” said Todd Smith, an investigator with the Jackson Police Department.

Ultimately, the question of whether residents should feel as safe as they once did is complicated, because many residents had an idealized view of Jackson as a small town beyond the reach of violent crime, said Sharel Love, executive director of the Community Safety Network.

 

Truckee debates coal plan

TRUCKEE, Calif. – Residents of the Sierra Nevada town of Truckee continue to debate whether to commit to a 50-year contract that would help pay for a new coal-burning power plant in Utah.

The fundamental issue is similar to that being debated in other mountain towns of the West: Can growth in energy demands realistically be met by alternative energy, and if so, at what cost? Complicating the story in California is a state law that comes into effect in January and will limit such contracts to five years.

Proponents of the contract say that with a commitment to the new power plant, prices can be locked in at $35 to $40 per megawatt hour. Buying electrical power on the spot market is far more uncertain, with estimates running to $70 per megawatt hour.

“… there is not enough green power to fulfill our needs in Truckee at anything like the price we are prepared to pay,” said Colin Taylor, in a letter published in Truckee’s Sierra Sun.

But an alternative view is that Truckee — and the rest of the world — cannot possibly afford elevated greenhouse gas emissions caused by burning more coal. “Global warming is the greatest threat to the survival of future generations,” declares Scott Terrell.

Many people expect a carbon tax to be imposed as a way of recognizing the fundamental cost of burning fossil fuels. If that happens, says Neal Mock, also writing in the Sierra Sun, the cost of the coal-produced electricity will again be much higher than it is now.

A similar debate is currently underway in Colorado, where the largest wholesale supplier, Tri-State Generation & Transmission, proposes to invest in two or three additional coal-fired power plants. Crested Butte town officials have now voiced their displeasure, although commissioners in Gunnison County, where Crested Butte is located, have not taken a stance.

 

Renewable mix to be upped

TELURIDE, Colo. – Two years ago Colorado voters passed a measure, called Amendment 37, that mandates that 10 per cent of the electricity sold by larger electrical utilities come from wind, solar and other renewable sources by the year 2015. Exempted were smaller rural electrical co-operatives — including San Miguel Power Association. The association serves the region around Telluride, Silverton, and Ouray.

But at the prodding of a local non-profit called Atlas Arkology, the rural co-op will voluntarily boost its portfolio of electricity made from renewable sources to the same benchmark required by Amendment 37, reports the Telluride Daily Planet.

Currently, nearly 100 per cent of power provided by San Miguel Power comes from the burning of coal and natural gas. Moving to renewables will come at a cost, according to general manager Bobby Bair.

Atlas Arkology won the argument, partly by pointing out that in Telluride, Amendment 37 had been approved by 79 per cent of voters. “Because there’s such enthusiasm for green power and because the San Juan Mountains will bear the brunt of global warming… we really need to be on the forefront of green power,” said Atlas’s Eric Jacobsen.

 

Real estate still strapping

ASPEN, Colo. – The real estate market in Aspen and Pitkin County continued to surge during October. The dollar volume of sales was up 35 per cent from the same month last year.

That puts Pitkin County at $2.16 billion through October, compared to last year’s $2.24 billion Sales in down-valley Garfield County also continue to be well ahead of last year.

 

The doctor is in, maybe

SILVERTON, Colo. – Silverton now has two ski areas, a film festival, a free-form radio station, plus a host of non-profit organizations. But it still has no full-time doctor. However, the Silverton Standard reports interest by Abe Tomco in setting up a family practice after he completes his residency in Salt Lake City. Grants will help get the clinic going, he told Silverton trustees, but ultimately the community must buy in to the clinic to make it sustainable.